Galatians 4:23

4:23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent, ¹  while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise.

Galatians 4:29

4:29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent ²  persecuted the one born according to the Spirit, ³  so it is now.

Genesis 24:2-3

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ⁴  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ⁵  24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise ⁶  by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire ⁷  a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

Genesis 24:2

24:2 Abraham said to his servant, the senior one ⁸  in his household who was in charge of everything he had, “Put your hand under my thigh ⁹ 

Genesis 10:1-2

The Table of Nations

10:1 This is the account ¹⁰  of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons ¹¹  were born ¹²  to them after the flood.

10:2 The sons of Japheth ¹³  were Gomer, ¹⁴  Magog, ¹⁵  Madai, ¹⁶  Javan, ¹⁷  Tubal, ¹⁸  Meshech, ¹⁹  and Tiras. ²⁰ 

Genesis 11:12

11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.

Genesis 12:2

12:2 Then I will make you ²¹  into a great nation, and I will bless you, ²² 

and I will make your name great, ²³ 

so that you will exemplify divine blessing. ²⁴ 

[4:23]  ¹ tn Grk “born according to the flesh”; BDAG 916 s.v. σάρξ 4 has “Of natural descent τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκός children by natural descent Ro 9:8 (opp. τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας). ὁ μὲν ἐκ τῆς παιδίσκης κατὰ σάρκα γεγέννηται Gal 4:23; cp. vs. 29.”

[4:29]  ² tn Grk “according to the flesh”; see the note on the phrase “by natural descent” in 4:23.

[4:29]  ³ tn Or “the one born by the Spirit’s [power].”

[24:2]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ⁵ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[24:3]  ⁶ tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

[24:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[24:2]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term זָקֵן (zaqen) may refer to the servant who is oldest in age or senior in authority (or both).

[24:2]  ⁹ sn Put your hand under my thigh. The taking of this oath had to do with the sanctity of the family and the continuation of the family line. See D. R. Freedman, “Put Your Hand Under My Thigh – the Patriarchal Oath,” BAR 2 (1976): 2-4, 42.

[10:1]  ¹⁰ tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.

[10:1]  ¹¹ sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.

[10:1]  ¹² tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.

[10:2]  ¹³ sn The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.

[10:2]  ¹⁴ sn Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 49-61.

[10:2]  ¹⁵ sn For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 22-24.

[10:2]  ¹⁶ sn Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.

[10:2]  ¹⁷ sn Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.

[10:2]  ¹⁸ sn Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.

[10:2]  ¹⁹ sn Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (SBA), 24-26.

[10:2]  ²⁰ sn Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.

[12:2]  ²¹ tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.

[12:2]  ²² sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.

[12:2]  ²³ tn Or “I will make you famous.”

[12:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.